Given the recent state of affairs, and the unpleasantness I recently dealt with, it was clear that I needed to take a more 'proactive' stance in regards to Japanese captives.

To that end I decided to create a small unit of troops to do the dirty work that was needed to liberate those enslaved. A group that would ferret out the locations of Japanese across the seedier locales of the capital and liberate them, along with whoever else had the misfortune of being in the general area as well. When freed, they would be shepherded to a more 'secure' location' until such time as their repatriation to Japan could be properly done.

Though, calling it a 'unit' is a little too formal for a couple dozen people drawn from my own personal retinue. They were a mix of normal humans and a handful of bunny warrior women that I had taken into my employ.

Ugh.

On the matter of those rabbit eared women, they had some of the strangest cultural quirks. Mostly just how damn proud they can be!

From the lowliest girls to the mightiest huntresses, they are as a whole some of the most mulish people I have ever encountered. They stick their noses up and refuse to do anything that is either a cultural taboo (of which I have yet to actually figure out what they are), or anything they see as beneath them.

And to my eternal chagrin, most of the girls I have emancipated are warriors. So you can only imagine how hard it is for them to get any meaningful employment. They turned their noses up at nearly everything!

And I heard every excuse in the book!

Being a servant was dishonorable.

Being a laborer was beneath them.

And on and on it went!

Sure, some of them swallowed their pride and took what jobs were on hand to have more than the meager pittance I provide them upon their emancipation, but it was hardly graceful. Strangely enough being nursemaids or anything involving children, such as babysitting and the like, is bizarrely okay for them.

Regardless, they were stuck in quite the dilemma. One of their own making, but a dilemma nonetheless.

So, rather than wait for the inevitable riots and uptick in crime to plunge the lower end areas of Sadera into a warzone, as a band of militarily trained individuals use their skills to acquire money in less than legal ways, I decided to make use of this sizable pool of (wo)manpower and offer these warrior women positions in my retinue.

Understandably, many did not take up my offer (surprise, surprise~). However, enough did that my own fighting force was augmented to a noticeable degree.

If any of the men in my service had issues with serving beside women, as is the cultural bias of Sadera, they quickly learned to swallow their own respective pride right around the time one of the women broke a man's arms.

'Growing pains' aside, they were to be the 'stick' to my financial 'carrot'. The carrot in this case being "I will buy these slaves from you" and the stick being "I will take them from you".

I'd like to think it is working as well as can be expected.

---
---

Mari Kurokawa was hardly surprised at the state of Sadera's slums. Run down, crime ridden, and with no real attempt by the Imperial government to rein in the worst excesses of criminal behavior.

Not a surprise. A nation like the Empire that built itself on conquest and enslavement would hardly care about the lowest of their society. No social nets, no care or even basic decency for those at the bottom. These people lived, and died, uncared for and in filth.

She didn't even need orders to head out to the JSDF's forward clinic in the slums, nor did she need any encouragement to get to work.

The politicians can call it an 'outreach program' while the media can deride it as a 'PR move', she didn't really care. If she was able to extend a helping hand out to people, people could call it whatever they liked.

And they were doing good work here, both from what she had seen so far and from the reports she skimmed before arriving. The locals were cautious but not overly hostile. Over the past couple of weeks, more and more people have been using the clinic's services, but most still kept their distance. No one has revealed them to the authorities yet, so that was a promising sign.

Probably the best they could expect given all the propaganda the Empire had spread about the Japanese so far. The way the Empire spun it, it made Japan and its people out to be monsters in human skin.

The young woman was also becoming painfully aware that the situation on the ground was hardly as 'static' or straightforward as she was led to believe.

Kurokawa frowned as she watched soldiers in dull colored armor barking out orders to a group of people lined up against a nearby building across from where she was. They were not gentle as they shoved and kicked those who tried to argue or run. One man was beaten so badly he stopped moving altogether.

If it weren't for the line of starved and beaten men and women flowing out of the building openly thanking the soldiers in question, she'd probably chalk this up to casual Imperial brutality.

"Looks like someone is cleaning house," Chief Nyutabaru mumbled at the sight through the window, while on edge, he didn't sound overly concerned. Probably because the patients around them were calm, though intrigued by the events outside.

"And I say it's about time something was done," the winged woman Kurokawa was treating, Mizari, quipped before making a disgusted sound. "The Matron of that brothel was a sadistic cunt. Pretty sure she got off on seeing just how brutal her customer could be to her girls."

Not that the sight made any of them let their guards down. The clinic was, despite strictly being a humanitarian outpost, technically against the terms of the treaty Princess Pina signed with the JSDF. The few guards assigned here could be seen, by the Imperials, as a militarization of the clinic.

"I'm genuinely surprised by how heavy handed those guards are," the chief grimaced at the sight of a rabbit-eared woman in similar garb to the other soldiers dragging out an older human woman into the street by the hair. The lupine woman tossed the woman towards the line up like a sack of flour, ignoring her illegible cries.

Mizari chuckled, "Guards? Why would they do anything? Unless some lord, or lord's son, gets roped into something outside their comfort area, the city guard could care less what happens here."

"Well it seems like they're doing something about it now," Kurokawa mused to herself her native tongue. "But if they aren't guards, do you know who they are?"

"By their colors if nothing else," the winged woman shrugged. "And knowing that, I can only guess the matron did something truly abominable to get the princess's own troops to drag em out onto the street like that. And they aren't the only ones. Why just a few days ago, a different brothel was burned down to its foundations, with the husband and wife who ran it strung up from a tree. "

"Wait, those are Rose Knights?" Kurokawa did a double take on the soldier's outside. They didn't look anything like Pina's knights. Beyond the mere fact they were all men, beyond a pair of rabbit women, their armor didn't have the same knightly aesthetic as Pina's group. It looked more like a slimmed down version of what the legionaries they fought wore, with darker colors.

"A Rose Knight?" Mizari questioned, "isn't that a play or something?"

Another rabbit woman, one who was missing half an ear, grabbed the matron's arm and twisted it like a corkscrew. The screams of pain were enough to scare the rest of the prisoners into line.

"The Rose Order of Knights. They're the princess's knightly order."

"The princess doesn't have a knightly order," the avian woman shook her head. "Guards? Sure. A retinue, probably. But no knightly order or the like. We would've heard about it."

"That's not right, Princess Pina said that her knights are her pride and joy," from their brief time together, the medic just couldn't imagine the young woman downplaying her group or their capabilities.

"Princess Pina?" Realization flashed on the woman's face. "Oh wait, you mean that consort girl, right?"

"Consort girl?" Kurokawa remembered the princess mentioning something about being a concubine's daughter. "Are we… talking about the same person? Young woman, or late teens I guess. Red hair, red eyes?"

"That's the only consort princess I know about," Mizari nodded.

"Wait there's another princess!" a different girl, younger than Mizari and with a pair of cat ears on her head, quipped from the ad hoc 'waiting room'; which was little more than a few chairs pushed next to each other. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Duh! Because there's only one princess!" A girl next to the feline eared teen chimed in, her eyes slit like a snake's.

"But the Japanese lady just said-"

"Well she's wrong."

"Not quite," Mizari interrupted the pair before they could continue. "Technically, Pina is a princess. Specifically, she's her highness's half sister; same father, different mothers."

The pair nodded at the older woman's words, as if it explained everything, though Mari still felt out of the loop.

"I'm sorry but who's 'her highness', if you're not talking about Princess Pina?" Kurokawa got the feeling the answer only led to further questions.

"Princess Tanya Augustus," the winged woman replied, to the nodding of the other girls. "Though you hardly need to say her whole name and title around these parts. Just saying 'the princess' or 'her highness' is enough for anyone in these parts to know who you're talking about."

Oh!

I suddenly clicked in Kurokawa's head who Mizari was talking about. Pina talked about someone called 'Tanya' a few times in Japan, and mentioned that she had a sister, but they were said in such passing and the Princess refused to elaborate when pressed that Mari assumed the two were separate people.

"So there's another princess then?" Chief Nyutabaru mumbled in Japanese. He looked down at his clipboard, the text detailing some basic facts of Sadera to avoid any unnecessary alterations with the locals. "Looks like someone messed up with our primers then."

"More an oversight than messing up," though even saying, Kurokawa felt a tad dim herself for not catching the mistake on the primer herself.

"Call it what you like, sergeant," the chief made a note somewhere on the sheet.

"Now I don't doubt that Pina is probably a nice girl," Mizari continued, "but don't expect many people here to know about her by name. Hell, I only know about her from some noblemen who want to take her as his concubine!"

"Well that might change very soon," Mari commented, recalling her short time with the princess. "Not only is she the one who pushed for the ceasefire between the Empire and Japan, and a strong force behind the peace talks themselves, but she seemed to be a bright young woman with a strong sense of right and wrong. Given enough time, I have no doubt the people here will see that."

"....and?" the lizard eyed girl interrupted whatever Mizari was about to say.

"And?" Mari was confused by the girl's question.

"And," the girl repeated. "How will that help people like us?"

"I mean… It would end the war if it works out. Saving the lives of thousands," Kurokawa was surprised by the hostile tone.

"Okay…" the girl did not look impressed, "Will that put food in our bellies?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said 'will it put food in our bellies'," the girl seemed frustrated with the medic. "Is she going to do anything to help look after young children when their mothers and fathers go out to work? Will her play knights patrol our streets to stop the muggings and rapes? Her highness gives out food to the hungry, work for the listless, even helps the sick like you guys are doing! Comparing someone who has done everything for us, to someone who has done nothing for us? Well excuse me for not giving a damn about some girl who just happens to be lucky enough to have a few drops of royal-"

"Helena," Mizari shot a look at the lizard girl, her icy tone silencing her in short order. "Enough." As the cat girl sank into her seat, the older woman turned to Kurokawa, "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"No, no, it's alright," Mari waved off the apology. "I'm more surprised by how strongly she feels about this."

"Not just Helena," the winged woman looked out the window, the incident on the streets wrapping itself up as the line of prisoners were dragged away to an unknown fate.

"You too?"

"Most people in Akhusko actually hold very strong feelings towards her highness and those who would say someone else is more deserving of that respect, and yes myself included. Though some of us are just more mature about saying it," she gave a sideways glance to the previously vocal girl. Before Mari could speak up, Mizari continued. "I'm sure Pina is a lovely woman. A gem even. But she hasn't done anything for us. Gods, you foreigners have done more for us in your short time here than the consort girl has seemingly done in her whole life."

"She's still young," Mari felt the urge to at least offer a small defense to the woman who was enabling an end to the war with the Empire. "Only nineteen or so. I'm sure given some time she'll-"

"Princess Tanya is only thirteen," Helena quipped again, though immediately shrunk back into herself when Mizari shot another look towards her.

Kurokawa knew when a conversation was just going to aggravate all involved and decided to change subjects. "You said there were other clinics here?"

"A few dotted about the slums, free of charge for any to use. Courtesy of her highness," Mizari seemed to pick up on Mari's desire. "The healers there can't really be compared to the ones the nobility uses, or the stuff you Japanese have here, but they get the job done.

"Oh? Have you gone to them yourself?"

"Naturally. Would still be going to them if one of my friends didn't let me know about this place and curiosity did overtake me."

"If it wouldn't be much trouble, could you show me one of these places?" I know a few girls whose children would have died without the care they provide." The medic found herself intrigued by the prospect of seeing these 'healers' and what they did. Was it like a genuine hospital environment, or as close to one as this world could allow, or was it more like a charity sort of system.

Given the smile and nod from Mizari, Kurokawa had a feeling she'd learn about it sooner than later.

---
---

"The raid was a success, your highness. We placed the matron and her enforcers into custody. Additionally we uncovered evidence of a Japanese slave in another part of the district. With your permission, we will move in and retrieve them."

"Do it," I didn't hesitate, looking across the table to the trio kneeling before me. Two men, one bunny woman, all garbed in a more 'mundane' version of the gear they were used to wearing. Far better then the flashy colors most armies used here.

Now I can't say I wasn't concerned about the first few missions I sent them out on. The inflexible doctrine of Sadera mixed with the loose warrior ethos of the bunny warriors. But in the end it turned out the two distinct philosophies paired well together. At least, in terms of small unit tactics.

The discipline of Sadera tempered the warriors, while the close knit bonds of the warriors was complemented by discipline. They certainly proved how devastating it could be in that degenerate place that pushed me to act in the first place.

I was about to question them a bit more before they left, when I heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, your playmate's here," even though I couldn't see Cordelia through the door, I could just tell she had some smirk on her face. She knew how much I hated her calling my similarly aged acquaintances 'playmates'.

"We'll talk again after the mission," I commented to the trio, before addressing Cordelia, "let her in."

It was less than a moment later when Sherry practically skipped through the door. Though her face soured slightly when she passed the bunny warrior woman as she made her way out, almost recoiling at the sight of the blade at her side. Quickly crossing the room, the young girl did her best to ignore the lupine woman's presence.

"It's wonderful to see you, your highness," the girl curtseyed, though her muscles noticeably relaxed as the door shut and the demihuman walked out.

"You too," I smiled, doing my best to hide my distaste for her views.

Even a blind man could tell that Sherry Tyueli had an 'issue' with demihumans. From the way she talked to them to the manner she acted around them. The few times I did ask her about it, I got the impression that she didn't so much hate them as she thought they were 'primitive'.

Deeper questioning on the matter amounted to the equivalent of "I'm not racist, but….".

She would say she felt sad they were not as 'smart' as humans (or elves I guess), but they still could be 'taught' and civilized to an extent. She also claimed that some types of demihumans who integrated into Imperial society like orcs and goblins merely 'mimicked' human behavior and didn't understand the principles behind said behavior. This view extended to all demihumans, from the amazons of the south, to dwarfs, to beastkin, and the like, they were all equally primitive.

Strangely, or perhaps expectedly, Zaynab, and elves in general, seemingly get a pass in the broad viewpoint.

Honestly, it was sad to see an otherwise bright girl have such a narrow view of the world. Sure, some races had reputations for a reason, but to blatantly state all members of all these races were the exact same? Acting as if there is a comparison between tribal orcs and the dwarf kingdoms is ludicrous.

She knows my opinion on the matter of course, and 'respects my opinion', but she says the words in a way someone attempts to minimize conflict then a true understanding.

I can't force her to believe in something she clearly has no interest in and she can sway me to her way of thinking. So we do our best to avoid the topic as a whole.

But it doesn't stop me from seeing it from time to time.

Though I hardly invited her over to discuss race relations and the like. "So, how was the Japanese party?"

The girl's eyes lit up at the mention as she started to regal me with her story.

Ah yes, the Japanese party.

More a PR stunt than anything else. Essentially, putting a 'human face' to the 'evil barbaric dispoilers'. Not sure how effective that'll be against months worth of propaganda and a literal pile of corpses, but these things have to start somewhere. It did allow them to at least begin to dispel the absurd rumors being spread on the streets about them.

I would have attended, Pina invited me even, but caution and indecision got the better of me. I rationalized I needed more 'information' to figure out what the hell was going on for the Japanese Self Defense Force to be acting the way they are.

Like who the hell has a live fire exercise in a diplomatic meeting!?

Add in other aforementioned aggressive posturing, and I was honestly beside myself on what to do; beyond what was already being done. The aggressiveness on display is beyond anything I could ever imagine "my" Japan doing.

Perhaps if it weren't for an Imperial Gala being held a day or so after this Japanese Party, in which the Japanese already agreed to attend, I might have had more of a 'kick' to go to this event.

Still….Too many unknowns, too many variables to consider. I had most of the puzzle pieces, but it still felt like I was missing something…

"...and Mr. Sugawara told me he'd take me to Japan one day," while I had mostly tuned in and out of Sherry's retelling, I was still nodding occasionally to give the illusion of proper attention. Still, even I could almost see the literal hearts in the girl's eyes as she gushed about her crush.

"That does sound wonderful," I replied with a smile, though I am tempted to point out the differences in Japanese and Saderan courtship to her and nip this whole 'infatuation' in the bud.

"Oh it was, until your brother showed up," she frowned at the memory. "He rode in with some of his men and acted like utter brutes! Or pigs even! They harassed Sugawara, talked down to all the senators there, then had the audacity to make off plates full of food!

…

It took me a moment to truly process her words.

"Wait, what?"

---
---

"Where is he!"

Those were the first words I called out as I threw open the door with a burst of magic and marched into Zorzal's manor. I had used my magic to fly straight to his home, not bothering with any of the usual formalities like giving prior warning or arriving in a carriage.

I can only imagine how bizarre it looked to the guards who rushed over to stop the 'intruder' only to find little old me, hair frazzled from the flight and looking very undignified.

"Where is he," I repeated, though lower now that I was talking face to face with actual people rather than yelling into the dark void of Zorzal's home.

Without saying anything, they motioned down a hallway and gave me a wide berth as I stormed in that direction.

They were right on the money, my nose twitching as the stink of sex and alcohol became heavier until I reached the sole occupied chamber along the collection of rooms.

I was as gentle with that door as I was with the one at the entrance.

"What did you do!?"

The girl Zorzal was pawing at leapt from his lap at my sudden entrance and sprawled out onto the floor. He took my entrance in stride, readjusting his clothes and greeting me as if I didn't look like I wasn't going to blow a blood vessel from anger.

"My beloved sister," Zorzal scooped me up into a frustratingly tight hug. He refused to release me until I wriggled out of his grasp like an eel. "

"Why did you do that!?" I repeated.

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to be a little more specific," Zorzal snapped his fingers pointing at the woman in the room to get out, not even giving her the time to cover herself. "I do a lot of things."

"You barged into that party being held at the Jade Palace and almost single handedly sparked a diplomatic incident!"

"Barged?" He laughed, only infuriating me further. "Sister, they are invading us. Me strolling into Pina's villa with some friends is hardly offensive. Those barbarians should have been honored that I, the crown prince, even paid attention to their going ons. Though, given I barely knew it was going on, how did you find out?"

"Sherry," I used magic to levitate myself to eye level with him. "She said you barged in and acted like a pig."

"Oh, I thought I recognized one of the kids there," Zorzal nodded to himself. "I don't like to get involved in your personal life, Tanya, but I don't think that girl is good to keep around. She's a little too 'close' to the enemy."

"It wasn't even that dangerous," Zorzal shrugged. "I heard they were showing off those so-called dangerous weapons, but I couldn't see a single sword amongst them. Not even a scrap of armor! Nothing!"

"They don't fight like us…" has he not been paying attention to anything for the last few months? Even the beggars in the streets knew the Japanese fought with 'magical weapons'.

"And then they come to us in what amounts to colored rags and we're the ones who have to parlay with them?" And he wasn't even listening to me. "If that weren't bad enough, they have women warriors. Women! Can you believe it? For Gods sakes, how have we not slaughtered them all already?"

"You don't just go around insulting people at diplomatic events!" Was he even listening to me? "You might have single handedly made the situation worse for the Empire!"

"Sister, I know the situation looks scary, but trust me," he put a hand on my shoulder, as if to console a child. "I've fought in war. And I can assure you that we are in absolutely no danger from these barbarians."

Was…he being serious right now? I mean, there's being arrogant, and just flat out ignoring reality!

"Then how do you explain all the damage they've caused until now? They wiped out the vassal armies and our own legions. Twice!"

"The vassal states are weak, and our legions were led by timid old men," he brushed aside my worries. "How else can we explain the horrible performance of our forces? I mean, look at me. Without any prior experience whatsoever, I managed to conquer the warrior bunnies with little trouble. If I could do something like that, what excuses do these 'experienced' generals have?"

"The situation is completely different," I wanted to pull my hair out. Just who in their right mind was filling Zorzal's head with this stupidity!?

"My Prince, you should not compare yourself to others so casually."

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear…

Tyuule slipped into the room, her body was barely covered in that 'outfit' Zorzal had her wear, though it was more off putting then arousing given all the bruises and scars it revealed.

"You are a once in a millenia genius of warfare, the likes of which may never be seen again. At best, these men hold only a fraction of your talent." I'll give her this, the warrior queen played quite the broken bird act. Demure, passive, and never meeting Zorzal's eyes. Yet her expressions were too unnatural, her voice was so sickeningly sweet it made me feel like my teeth were rotting.

Only someone desperate for some kind of recognition would buy into this act.

"Ha! Right you are Tyuule," he patted the woman on the head for her 'kind' words like she was some dog. "But if they don't even have that. Even a fraction of greatness would have prevented their abominable performance."

"You are too kind, I only speak the truth," How the hell was he not seeing the woman's knuckles going white from clenching her fists?

"So," I butted into the conversation , "what are you going to do to fix the situation?"

"What do you mean? What's there to 'fix'?"

"The Japanese," I decided to be blunt. "What are you going to do to apologize to them?"

"Why should I have to apologize?" Zorzal snorted.

"Because it's expected of you!"

"These barbarians aren't worth wasting any time thinking about."

"They aren't just going to forget you barging in unannounced and insulting them!"

"Good!" he smiled, "then they won't have to be reminded that this is our land, and we shall do here as we please!"

Ugh….

I suppose I'm going to have to run damage control for Zorzal…

Again….

"I suppose I'll head home then," I sighed as the man wrapped me up in another tight hug.

"Well it was wonderful of you to drop by, no matter how brief it was. And sister, don't waste anymore of your time on these barbarians."

I mumble something under my breath as I make my way out, hearing the faint beginnings of Zorzal's next conversation.

"By the way Tyuule, where have you been?" Zorzal questioned the woman. "You weren't in bed when I woke."

"Oh? I was merely attending to a matter that is so far beneath your notice, it's not even worth mentioning. I merely-"

I didn't hear the rest of it, not that I wanted to hear her bullshit excuse that Zorzal would eat up. I had more important things to do, like preventing a diplomatic incident by apologizing on behalf of the crown prince.

--
--

Despite his calm demeanor, Koji Sugawara felt ever so slightly out of his depth.

Negotiating the end of what could be described as the first 'interplanetary' or 'interdimensional' war in Earth's history tended to have that effect on people. And for as familiar as it all might appear at first glance, these people might as well be aliens.

Magic and monsters were only the start of it.

There were dozens in the foreign office with more experience than him and were probably more suited for this role. Not even taking into account how vulnerable he felt being so deep inside this tyrannical state,

Hell, he had to wear a stab vest just to go to a party his consulate was hosting!

Still, he was lucky, or unlucky, enough to gain a grasp of the Imperial language faster than his counterparts. So here he was, walking into the monster den.

And even when they did arrive at the city, the Emperor refused to even speak to them for two whole weeks!

Of course Sugawara knew what the Emperor was trying to do. Some negotiation tactic no doubt meant to imply that despite the current situation, or that he had other things more important taking up his time than talking to Japan, and when he finally did meet with the Japanese that they should feel honored he found time for them in his 'tight schedule'.

Though it was clear to everyone that the Emperor's eyes were squarely on the Jade Palace. And he wasn't just referring to the literal army of observers and spies they found watching them from just outside the consulate's grounds.

Just a few days ago, Sugawara and his staff decided to host a 'garden party' for members of the Imperial elite, to show them that the Japanese were not some faceless monster. Within hours of the date being decided, an imperial messenger arrived to say how the Emperor had 'decided' to host a massive imperial ball a couple days after the Japanese party and that all foreign dignitaries were welcomed to attend.

Tit for tat the ambassador supposed.

Still, the fact the official 'summons' to actually meet the Emperor arrived mere hours after the consulate party's demonstrations of modern weapons probably also had no bearing on the timing of this first meeting.

"My Lord, you are about to meet with the Emperor of Sadera and Master of all Falmart. When you meet his majesty, you must address him properly. By his full title or not at all," the servant addressed Sugawara as they walked through the empty halls.

Though Sugawara had several JSDF guards with him, and his trusty stab vest back on, he hardly felt safe.

Scores of armored men followed around the party. Sugawara assumed they must be the vaunted Praetorian Guard the Princess mentioned. They certainly looked more intimidating than the usual imperial legionary.

In fact, it looked like some fusion between European full plate armor and the normal "roman" looking variants the SDF reported to have encountered. But there was something odd about the armor. It was too quiet. No clinking of plates or even footsteps for that matter! As if the boots were just slippers on the marble floor.

"I assume 'Your Majesty' is acceptable," the diplomat guessed. "Or would 'your highness' be enough?"

"Your 'Imperial Majesty'," he was corrected, "spoken clearly, with the respect and dignity the title commands."

"How humble" the negotiator mumbled to himself in Japanese, one of his guards coughed into his hand to hold in a chuckle.

"This is not a joking matter," the servant stated, clearly picking up on the meaning of what was exchanged if not the words themselves. "Are you aware of the punishment a barbarian, emissary or not, will suffer if they flagrantly break court protocol?"

"I assume some sort of censure? A fine?" Another thing he found annoying was how the Imperials kept calling him, and all other Japanese, 'barbarians'. Princess Pina did explain how the word technically meant 'people not part of the Empire', but also conceded that it did carry the negative connotations the term had on Earth.

Koji also couldn't help but find the concept of a society that still used wagons and horses as their main modes of transportation seeing itself as superior to the modern world as laughable. Given enough time and manpower, he bet even the most backward militaries on Earth could roll over the Empire.

"Fifteen lashes," the servant quipped back. "For your own safety, I would ask that you adhere to proper protocol."

"I'm sorry, but are you saying you whip foreigners for addressing the emperor wrong?" he questioned, astounded by the barbarity.

"As would be administered to citizens, though only seven lashes," the servant clarified, as if that explanation made the situation better.

As they walked through the Palace, he noticed how the hallways were sealed off by pairs of praetorians, their heavy shields and bully armor obscuring curious servants looking on. Every doorway had a guard, every hallway a pair, and lines of men with crossbows stood at higher elevations when possible, ready to litter the Japanese with bolts should they step out of line. It all made Sugawara feel like the Imperials were treating them like wild animals.

"This all seems a bit much for security," Sugawara commented at the sight of all the soldiers.

"With all due respect, the mountains of corpses at Alnus and Italica would say we have too little security for your… kind", The servant clearly held back the 'B' word.

The rest of the walk was mostly silent after that, beyond the occasional quip about this or that as they passed paintings and busts they passed.

Eventually after climbing flight after flight of stairs, they reached a line of praetorians beside a door. The armored men parted like a sea before the group. The servant then knocked on the door twice. Seconds later, a single knock replied.

The doors opened to reveal the Emperor in all his glory.

Emperor Molt Sol Augustus was not quite what Sugawara expected.

For whatever reason, despite the personal accounts of Princess Pina, and even his own better judgment, he'd thought this man would be some sort of monster. Not in the figurative sense, but a literal monster. Scales, horns, lizard-like eyes, and so on.

Hell, most of the media in Japan thought of him as such. Devil horns, hoofed legs, insectoid, and other more monstrous ideas. To them, he was either the man who ordered the brutal attack on Japan, or the man who simply let it happen. Neither were especially good.

But it was almost anti-climactic how mundane the man truly was.

Sure, his clothes were something he'd seen in a few movies about European nobles, a little more well done in some ways, a priceless looking circlet on his head with a fanciful gem at its center, but overall the man was more…normal then he'd assumed he would be.

But normal was fine. Preferred even. Even so, how do you even begin a negotiation like this?

Several minutes passed by, with neither party willing to start.

"How has the capital been treating you, Lord Sugawara?" the Emperor finally spoke up, after ending the deafening silence. "Well, I hope."

"It's a beautiful city," he answered. What else could he say? That it didn't smell quite as bad as he feared it would? "And I'm not a lord, your majesty, just a humble diplomat."

"...you don't say," Molt flexed his shoulders, silent for several seconds "...moving on, I feel that there is a 'but' for the comment about the city."

Sugawara had to admit, the man was sharp.

"But," Sugawara decided to test the waters to see how Molt would react. "I did hear some exaggerated rumors about my people being loudly spread in the city streets. Disgusting things that have no basis in reality."

"The masses will say what they will say," he dismissed Sugawara's question outright.

"And they just happen to say we live in tents made of human skin and cook children in pots…" he knew from Pina that the Emperor had a hand in the propaganda being spread. And no doubt, the Emperor knew he knew.

"What is more important is what you and I say," Molt moved on from the question to something he was clearly more comfortable talking about. "And what your people have said so far is that you want a great deal of money."

"I see the Princess informed you of our initial estimates," Sugawara immediately tried to downplay the first draft of costs, "rest assured, they are being adjusted, and the amount would not have to be paid wholly in gold."

"The term outrageous was used frequently by my ministers in response to it," the Emperor continued, ignoring the negotiator's mitigation attempts. "One almost had a stroke at the table."

"Again, I would like to emphasize that these are merely preliminary estimates," he continued. "The amount will most likely be reduced in light of the…impossibility of it ever being paid as it stands."

"How generous. Will this new amount only be ten times all gold the Empire has ever had rather than the hundred times your Emperor first suggested?"

"Our Emperor had no role in that," the negotiator explained, trying to clear up any misunderstandings. "Amount initially proposed by the Prime Minister and his cabinet."

"Of course, my mistake," Molt did little to hide his disbelief at the purely ceremonial role of the Japanese Emperor. "If only the Emperor knew."

"Your Majesty," Sugawara tried to reel the conversation back to a more acceptable topic, "I am-"

The door slammed open before he could even get a word out. A finely clothed man hurried into the room.

"Marcus," clearly the Emperor knew the man. "What can justify interrupting my meeting. I've barely exchanged pleasantries with the-"

"A thousand pardons, your Majesty," the man held out a folded piece of paper. "But this could not wait."

Molt regarded the man, then took the note, his eyes quickly skimming across the words. His expression shifted, though Sugawara had no words to describe it. Some mixed emotion of surprise and anger, followed by the emperor returning to his more neutral expression.

"Apologies ambassador, but this matter cannot wait," the Emperor stood up and whispered something to Marcus before looking back at Sugawara. "We will continue this discussion at the gala tomorrow, my guards shall see you and yours out."

Ah yes, the Imperial Gala.

The Emperor didn't even ask if Sugawara was going to attend the party. He either assumed he would or this was a command to attend.

Not that Sugawara had been planning on missing the event, the networking opportunities alone made going to it worth it. It just rubbed him the wrong way that he felt the Emperor saw it as if he was being commanded to go rather than go of his own free will.

After being led out of the palace in full, and a few blocks away, Sugawara let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding in.

Everything starts with baby steps.

---
---

The three minor Japanese nobles that had ended up in Imperial custody were dead.

They all died the same way: in their beds with slit throats.

As if Molt's day couldn't get any worse…

"You mean to tell me that no one, not the guards on the premises, or even the ones stationed outside their doors noticed a damn thing!?" Regulus looked as if he was going to beat the sniveling man before him.

The servants and the guards of the Japanese's accommodations were lined up against the wall by the praetorian guard. Some of the maid servants wept as the Prefect interrogated the guard captain in front of them all.

"They…well…" the guard capitan struggled to find his words, his throat contracting as if a phantom noose had been tied around it. "My lord, I- we… None of us saw anything out of the norm. We opened the doors in the morning and found them like that! I swear to all the Gods, it's the truth."

The villa Molt placed them in was hardly the Imperial Palace, but any assailant would have had to avoid at least a dozen guards and a small host of servants, both on their way in and out, to remain undetected.

The haryo? Mongrel they might be, they certainly understood the power of subterfuge and coin. They certainly had skill to pull off such an operation, and the 'why' was clear as day. For the Empire to suffer continued defeats at the hands of the Japanese barbarians and spread chaos across all Falmart.

"So you say," Regulus was unconvinced, turning to his underlings holding the man and the others. "Find out if they're incompetent or complicit, then hang them all."

"I see the situation is as dismal as you wrote." Molt ignored the cries for mercy as the crowd was led away, directing his attention to his Prefect.

"Sadly," the Prefect bowed to his liege. "And your talks with the barbarians?"

"Equally dismal," Molt frowned at the memory, regaling the Prefect with the meeting. How they sent a commoner to treat him, then they have the gall to demand extortionate amounts of money from the Imperial coffers, Molt could only imagine what other indignities he would have to suffer through before this war was over.

"Their arrogance is beyond comprehension," was Regulus's response to the story.

"Arrogance built upon a mountain of corpses," Molt absently noted the bodies of the nobles were wrapped up and placed into a burning pit.

"But arrogance nonetheless," Regulus scowled. "To demand so much, in such an insulting manner? Entire barbarian tribes have been exterminated for a fraction of what they have shown."

"And how is your scheme to humble them?" Molt inquired, genuinely curious about what the Praetorian had planned. "Done? In progress?"

"It's either already carried out, or will be shortly," the Prefect explained. "A simple sleight of hand to not only play upon man's most common fears, but demonstrate our power should the need arise."

---
---

Itami hated parties.

Actually that wasn't quite true.

He enjoyed them, so long as it was about something he cared about.

Birthdays? Karaoke? Anime? Sign him up!

Political gatherings where people in overly expensive and uncomfortable clothes passive aggressively poke and prod each other for an evening? Not so much.

Just like, for example, a massive Imperial Gala.

"So how did Kurokawa weasel her way out of this again?" Itami mumbled as he and the rest of his team waited for Sugawara to finish getting ready. The ranger fiddled with his dress uniform's collar to bleed off the stress he was feeling.

"She said she was going to investigate some Imperial clinics, see how they shape up and see if they need anything we can provide," Kuwahara reminded him.

"I should have thought up an excuse like that," the lieutenant bemoaned.

"I doubt that would have worked, seeing as how you were personally invited by Princess Pina."

Before Itami could reply, one of the diplomats tapped his shoulder."Excuse me Lieutenant, but there's a call from Alnus for you."

"Me? Really? Did they say what it was about?"

"No, just that it was urgent."

"Right," he waved to his team, "be back in a few guys, gotta call to take."

In the small room given over to communications equipment, Itami picked up the receiver.

"This is Second Lieutenant Itami."

"Itami, it's Yanagida, we have a situation here at Alnus."

"Well good evening to you too, Yanagida."

"Itami…"

"Right, right, I get it. So how bad is it?" Given the severity in his tone, Itami tried counting off the threats that could be against the base at any time. Dragons, monsters, Imperial forces.

"General Hazama woke up this morning to find a note on his night table. It was written in the local language and addressed to the 'Barbarian Warlord occupying Alnus. We checked it for poisons, but it came up clean.``

"Shit…" Someone broke into the base without getting spotted. How else could he respond to that? "I'm guessing you're already reviewing the security footage. Any clues, or are we still at square one?"

"That was the first thing we did, but we got nothing. The note just appears out of thin air in a single frame. It's not there, then it is. No one, besides the general, was in that room."

"So magic?"

"That's the leading theory we have thanks to Miss Lelei's input."

"So a threat to the General's life?" Though the idea seemed a little too brash for the Empire given the ceasefire in effect. Spying sure, but death threats?

"Worse: it was his itinerary for the last week."

"Are you saying some imperial spies stole something and then gave it back to show they could sneak in and out with impunity?" That didn't sound as bad as the security breach itself. Itami was more concerned about assassins using whatever this trick was to drop little 'surprises' onto soldiers as they slept.

"Yoji," Yanagida let out a frustrated sigh on his end of the line. "When we translated the message, it read out as a detailed account of everything the General did in the last week. Everything. Down to the most minute detail, for over a week, written by them. Everyone he talked to, everywhere he went, everything he did, everything he ate, even how long he slept. Everything was written down."

"Oh…" damn, that was really bad. If anyone could be observed with such impunity…

"Sure it didn't have exact names, and whoever wrote it doesn't know how computers or radios work, but it is still obvious what they mean given all the notes of the time they left in the margins. Itami, Some of these things took place in rooms with no windows or anything to observe through. I was even in one of these meetings! There was nothing out of the ordinary!"

A moment of silence reigned.

Itami honestly had no idea how to respond.

"We're already increasing the scale of surveillance across Alnus and we've begun to investigate possible spies among the Alnus Town residents. For the moment, we're also beginning a more thorough screening process for locals wanting to enter Alnus."

"You know this could be exactly what they want right?" The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. An overreaction by the SDF could ruin what relations they've built up with the locals. Dragging people away for 'questioning' would absolutely sour people's opinions of the Japanese.

"I know, but what else are we supposed to do?"

"...end the war, I guess," Itami laughed at his own poor joke. "Make the empire have no reason to do this anymore."

"Just like that?"

"I mean, we got a ceasefire. That's at least a start, right?"

Yanagida was quite on his end, then sighed. "Just be alert for anything odd or suspicious. If they can reach Hazama in Alnus, they can absolutely reach our people in Sadera."

"Yeah, I'll spread the word," the conversation quickly ended soon after.

Putting the radio down, Itami looked out to the towering edifice of the Imperial Palace at the highest point of the city.

He could just feel it in his bones that it was going to be a long night.

---
---

"This is going to be a long night," I mumbled to myself as I approached the doorway into the main chamber.

Inside were hundreds of the most important people in the city, if not the Empire. All to bask in the authority of the crown, and show the wider world that even with all the losses suffered and territory lost, the Empire was still great and powerful.

While I know how to play the game of politics, I absolutely detest it. Add in my high station granted by virtue of having the right parents, with my gender and age, I would almost certainly start having to deal with scores of men trying to 'woo' me or arrange some sort of marriage agreement.

While I wasn't concerned I was about to be shipped off like a mare, the Emperor made it clear he wasn't going to even consider arranging that sort of thing for some time, the sheer audacity of some people got on my nerves.

Political maneuvering aside, I normally wouldn't bother with this sort of thing.

But this gathering has one thing the others didn't: the Japanese attending.

I let caution get the better of me before, given recent events with Zorzal, I refuse to let another slip through my fingers again. And it will give me a chance to finally figure out what the hell is going on with this version of Japan.

"Uncomfortable?" Gaius mused, the eunuch putting on his finest robes for the occasion. Remus and Cordelia would have joined us, had the Gala not prohibited demihumans from attending; excluding those explicitly invited.

"Naturally", I tsked, shifting in the accused dress I was forced to wear and wiggling in the uncomfortable shoes I had to put on. This damn outfit probably costs more than an entire village, so how can it feel this uncomfortable!?

"I hear some girls go their whole lives wishing to be in your position."

"And some girls go their whole lives with their heads in the clouds," I quip back.

"Hm, someone's overly prickly tonight."

"More nerves than anything."

"Hm, anything to do with the Japanese weapons being brought so close to us?"

"Please, I know they won't do anything," I roll my eyes at the thought of them starting something at a party. They were 'winning', why would they do anything to jeopardize their position?

"Well, feel free to tell that to the cohort of Praetorians out there," Gaius mused aloud, reaching to the door, he looked to me for permission to open it.

I nodded, not saying a word as the two of us walked out into the veritable powder keg beyond.

If all goes according to plan, this night will finally put an end to any questions I might have on this version of Japan.